Perhaps I am too sentimental, but I get excited at the idea of a movie that doesn’t paint the youth of this generation in a negative light. I like to think that not all adolescents are solely concerned with underage drinking, destroying their parents homes by throwing ragers, experimenting with drugs, and having unprotected sexual encounters. I hold onto the notion that some sense of normality still exists. Typical problems like resenting your parents for being too overbearing or pulling all kinds of (really funny) stunts because your mother passed away and left you with a father who doesn’t understand you. I need to believe that a level of innocence can be maintained, even if a lot of bad things are happening on a regular basis. Maybe that is why I listen to Taylor Swift.

The Kings of Summer begins by introducing us to Joe (Nick Robinson), your typical—albeit very good looking—high school freshman who spends his mornings fantasizing about the girl who has made him a permanent fixture in the friend zone. It seems like Joe can’t get anything right, even the bird house he built for his wood shop final, and his dad (Parks and Recreation’s Nick Offerman) has no problem pointing it out. Lucky for him, he has got a partner in crime in his best friend Patrick (Gabriel Basso). As opposed to Joe, Patrick is growing up with a mom (Megan Mullally) and dad (Marc Evan Jackson) who never leave him alone. He can’t escape their doting and relentless cheery attitudes, to a point where he is breaking out in hives at the sound of their voices. When they are run off by a furious neighbor’s gunshots at the end of the year kegger held in the woods (okay fine they drink, but to their credit, it is not reckless or destructive), Joe and tag-a-long weirdo Biaggio (Moises Arias) stumble into an unoccupied piece of forest. Then suddenly the proverbial light bulb appears over Joe’s head: they will spend the summer building a house where they will live as men, free from the rule of their parents. It takes a little convincing to get Patrick out to the woods, and absolutely none on the part of Biaggio. What unfolds when they finally come together is a story that will make you laugh out loud and wish that just for one summer, you could live like these kings.

When I think of Ohio, the three things that come to mind are the Reds, the Buckeyes, and a really popular hospital system. I would have never imagined that hidden deep within the sticks of this cinematically untapped state, a hit movie of the season would be spawned. There is nothing out of the ordinary about the setting, but I believe that it is a testament to the direction of newcomer Jordan Vogt-Roberts. He was able to do so much with so little. This also gives the viewer a chance to focus on what I believe to be the most important part—the excellent characters written by fellow newcomer Chris Galletta. The three boys are quick-witted, quirky, and undeniably charming, making their friendship a pleasure to follow. Nick Offerman’s dead-pan humor is spot on, forcing you to sympathize with Joe’s plight and his desire to break free.  Ultimately, no matter the message you receive from the movie I can promise you one thing, you won’t leave the theatre without laughing. And now when I think of Ohio, there will definitely be a fourth thing that will come to mind.